While printing presses were flourishing in Europe following the invention of movable-type printing by goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg in Germany around 1440, sparking the Printing Revolution, the first printing press in the Ottoman Empire did not appear until 1493. The reasons for this delay continue to be the subject of much scholarly debate (Schwartz, 2017).

Consequent to their expulsion from Spain, the Jewish brothers David and Samuel ibn Nahmias sought refuge in Constantinople, where they established the first printing press in the Ottoman Empire. This was a notable achievement in the development of printing presses in the dominion (Yıldırım, 2023). The first book they printed was Jacob ben Asher's Arbaah Turim (Four Orders of the Code of Law), an influential fourteenth-century Hebrew text. Completed towards the end of 1493, it was the very first book printed in the Ottoman Empire in any language (Offenberg, 1969).

Other communities’ printing presses soon followed. The first Armenian book published in the Ottoman Empire appeared in 1567 in Istanbul, printed at the press of Tokath Apkar. Apkar had learned the art of printing in Italy and brought the necessary materials with him upon his return to Istanbul. His printing house was located in Surp Nigoğayos church (Ulu & Ozden, 2023). The first Greek printing house was established in Constantinople in 1627–1628 by the Greek monk Nikodemos Metaxas, which published a book Σύντομος πραγματεία κατὰ Ἰουδαίων ἐν ἁπλῇ διαλέκτῳ (Brief Discourse against the Jews, in Vernacular Dialect) by Cyril Loukaris, the Patriarch of Constantinople (Pektas, 2014).

Sergius Risius (Sarkīs al-Rizzī, 1572–1638), an alumnus of the Maronite College of Rome, published a bilingual Psalter in 1610 at the Maronite Monastery of St. Anthony in Qozhaya, in the Qadisha Valley of Lebanon (Della Rocca de Candal, 2022). The Psalter came to be known as the Qozhaya Psalter. To date, Leon Allatius remains the first to have ever mentioned the Psalter in 1633 in his work Allatius, L. (1633). Apes urbanae sive de viris illustribus qui ab anno MDCXXX per totum MDCXXXII Romae adfuerunt, ac typis aliquid evulgarunt [Urban bees, or about the illustrious men who were present in Rome from the year 1630 through the year 1632, and published something in print]. Rome.

Scarce information shrouds the process of this Psalter, although Allatius (1633) briefly notes that Sergius Risius (Sarkīs al-Rizzī) the Maronite Archbishop of Damascus, was the driving force behind the 1610 edition of the Psalms, confirmed by al-Rizzī’s introduction to the book.

In his recent publication, Walbiner (2024) reveals that a copy of the Qozhaya Psalter was purchased by the German traveler Tobias Emmanuel Adami (1581–1643) either in the year of its publication or shortly thereafter. Adami, a jurist and philosopher, made an intriguing note in the book: "In commemoration of the Syrian journey, I procured this Chaldean Arabic Psalter, printed by the Maronite brothers on Mount Lebanon, from the Archbishop of Ehden for two piasters." Adami had accompanied a German nobleman on a journey through the Eastern Mediterranean, including Syria and Palestine. The book later entered the library of Adam Rudolph Solger (1693–1777), a Nuremberg preacher and bibliophile, whose collection was acquired by the Municipality of Nuremberg in 1766. It remains to date in the Municipal Library (Walbiner, 2024).

Another German traveler who had in his possession a copy of the Psalter is also mentioned by Walbiner. Henning von Steinberg (1584–1639) received a copy of the Qozhaya Psalter in 1612 as a gift from the Maronite Patriarch, whom he met in a monastery near the Cedars (Walbiner, 2024). Walbiner believes that the monastery was most likely the Monastery of Our Lady of Qannūbīn, which served as the patriarchal seat (Walbiner, 2024). The patriarch in question must have been John Makhlouf (Yūḥannā Makhlūf), who served from 1608 to 1633 and resided at the Monastery of Our Lady of Qannūbīn in Northern Lebanon.

Walbiner's information reveals that the Psalter was both available for purchase and given as a gift during the early 17th century, indicating that multiple copies were in circulation. The evidence shows that the book was accessible in Lebanon, as it was purchased by Tobias Emmanuel Adami and gifted to Henning von Steinberg by the Maronite Patriarch. This indicates that the Psalter was not only available for local acquisition but also considered a significant item for gifting to travelers, highlighting its circulation and importance in Lebanon during that period.

The psalms are arranged in two columns, with the text in Syriac on the right and in Arabic on the left, though written in Syriac script. The content includes: an introduction by the publisher Sergius Risius (Sarkīs al-Rizzī,) the Canonical Psalms, the Apocryphal Psalm 151, the Song of Moses (Exod. 15:1–12), the Song of Isaiah (Isa. 42:10–13 and 45:8), the Song of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:46–55), the Song of the Three Holy Children (Dan. 3:75–88), and Saint Ephrem’s Hymn to the Light.

Only a small number of libraries currently hold copies of this book. These include the libraries of Nuremberg and Wolfenbüttel in Germany, the National Library of France and the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris, the Oriental Library of Saint Joseph University in Beirut, and the Central Library of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Jounieh, Lebanon (Moukarzel, 2010–2011).

The Psalter holds the distinction of being the first book ever printed in the Eastern Ottoman Empire in both Syriac and Garshuni—Arabic written using Syriac script (Moukarzel, 2010–2011). No other books followed from the press at Qozhaya (Quzhayya), and almost a century elapsed before the first book was printed in Arabic script in the Middle East, in 1706.

The Qozhaya Psalter book stands out for its groundbreaking achievements in the history of printing. It was the very first book ever printed in the eastern Ottoman Empire, a monumental step for the region's literary production. It was also the first complete book of the Old Testament to be printed entirely in Syriac characters, preserving the ancient script. Additionally, it was the first Bible text to be printed fully in Garshuni, further showcasing its unique contribution to the preservation and dissemination of these sacred languages (Moukarzel, 2010–2011).

Photo Credits

Fig.: 10.1: Compendiaria enarratio apparatus in honorem d'Ioannis evangelistae patroni ecclesiae et collegii maronitarum, exhibiti ab alumnis eiusdem Collegii ob cuolutum proximè annum ab erectione Collegii Centesimum. (1685). Rome, Italy: Apud I. Baptistam Bussottum, p. 52. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 53.
Fig.: 10.2: Barry, C. (Artist), & Finden, W. (Engraver). (1836). Mount Lebanon and the Convent of St. Antonio [Drawing]. Courtesy of USEK Library, Special Collection.
Fig.: 10.3-4: Rizzi, S. (Ed.). (1610). The Book of the Psalms of David King and Prophet (Syriac and Garshuni). Monastery of Saint-Anthony, Qozhaya. Courtesy of USEK Library, Pat. 291.

References

• Della Rocca de Candal, G. (2022). The Circulation of Printed Books Among Cultural Minorities in The Ottoman Empire (1450-1600): An Overview. In Minorités, migrations, mondialisation en Méditerranée : XIVe-XVIe siècle (Encounters, No. 559, pp. 81-103). Medieval civilization, No. 50.
• MOUKARZEL J., 2010-2011. “Le psautier syriaque-garchouni édité à Qozhaya en 1610. Enjeux historiques et présentation du livre,” Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph 63, p. 511-566.
• Moukarzel, J (Ed.). 2016. The Book of the Psalms of David, King and Prophet: A facsimile of the Editio Princeps published in 1610 (Qozhaya - Lebanon). Kaslik: Holy Spirit University of Kaslik Press.
• Offenberg, A. K. (1969). The First Printed Book Produced at Constantinople: (Jacob ben Ašer’s ’Arba’ah Ṭûrîm, December 13, 1493). Studia Rosenthaliana, 3(1), 96–112. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41480935
• Pektas, N. O. (2014). The first Greek printing press in Constantinople (1625–1628) (Master's thesis). University of London. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/28905992.pdf
• Schwartz, K. A. (2017). Did Ottoman sultans ban print? Book History, 20, 1-39. https://doi.org/10.1353/bh.2017.0003
• Ulu, C., & Ozden, K. (2023). Minority press and control in the Ottoman state and the Republic of Turkey: The example of the Armenian press. Journal of Global Social Sciences, 4(13), 25-45.
• Walbiner, C. (2024). The Collection, Perception, and Study of Arabic Incunabula from the Near East in Europe (17th – early 19th Centuries). In R. Dipratu & S. Noble (Ed.), Arabic-Type Books Printed in Wallachia, Istanbul, and Beyond: First Volume of Collected Works of the TYPARABIC Project (pp. 191-208). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111060392-009
• Yıldırım, İ. (2023). The basic development of Jewish printing in the Ottoman period. Bellek Uluslararası Tarih ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi, 5(1), 61-79. https://doi.org/10.52735/bellek.1287227